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A Guide to Using Costal or Diaphragmatic

Breathing to Help Control
Stuttering/Stammering
This guide offers basic instruction on how to control stuttering/stammering
(stuttering is used subsequently since the two words are synonymous)
through the use of a breathing technique known as costal breathing
(which is also referred to as diaphragmatic breathing). It is not intended
to be a substitute for face-to-face instruction on how to apply costal
breathing, but hopefully you will be able to apply some of the technique
and see some benefits yourself.
Requests for information on costal breathing are commonly seen on online
discussion forums devoted to stuttering (which is also referred to as
stammering) and, although the basics of the technique are relatively
simple to articulate, clear and accurate guidance is difficult to find online.
While attendance at a dedicated practical course may be the best way to
gain a mastery of costal breathing and associated technique, this is
obviously not possible for everyone. It is therefore in the spirit of widening
access to the breathing technique that this brief guide has been written
not everyone has the financial resources to attend a course, but, in my
opinion, no-one should be denied help with their speech due to a lack of
funding or lack of access to information.
At the outset, it is important to realise that costal breathing is not a cure
its proponents (of which I am obviously one) claim that it offers many
people a means by which stuttering can be controlled and a level of
fluency can be attained. However, while many people have been helped
by costal breathing, it may not be the right (or only) option for everyone
and many people obviously follow other paths to increased fluency.

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Indeed, costal breathing should be used along with other methodologies

such as non-avoidance (discussed below).

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COSTAL BREATHING AS A FORM OF STUTTERING THERAPY

The teaching of costal breathing forms the basis of several courses (none
of I am a representative of) for the treatment of stuttering. In the United
Kingdom, the British Stammering Association has created a page that acts
as a portal mainly for information on two such courses please see
http://www.stammering.org/speaking-out/speaking-out-tags/costalbreathing.
Although there are now two main courses available for English speakers
(i.e. non-profit The Starfish Project and for-profit The McGuire Programme),
the technique itself has been used for many years in various parts of the
world including at the for-profit Del Ferro Institute in The Netherlands
(which may have started the first dedicated public course teaching costal
breathing as a means to address stuttering).

No one course therefore

"owns" costal breathing in the context of stuttering therapy.

I am not aware of a course which teaches costal breathing in isolation, nor
does any course suggest that the use of costal breathing alone can enable
a person to overcome their speaking difficulties.

For example, central

elements of the two programmes mentioned above are assertiveness

training,

avoidance-reduction/non-avoidance

and

confidence-building.

Much of this is rooted in the work of the late Dr. Joseph Sheehan (please
see http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/kuster/pioneers/jsheehan/jsheehan.html
for an introduction to his life and writings).
An e-book written by Dr. Sheehans wife, Dr. Vivian Sheehan, is also
available and offers an excellent statement of Dr. Sheehans work. It is
sadly not available in a freely downloadable format, but you can read it via
Scribd please see http://www.scribd.com/doc/23283047/Easy-StutteringAvoidance-Reduction-Therapy.

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Finally, a more general book about stuttering which Ive found very helpful
is Stammering: Advice for All Ages by Renee Byrne and Louise Wright.
This little book is amazingly comprehensive with information about most of
the main therapies and treatment options, exercises to try at home to deal
with a range of specific incidents of stuttering and a wide range of
recommendations for further reading and links to organisations and bodies
which can help. The book also has information on courses using costal
breathing.

The

books

Amazon

UK

page

is

at

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stammering-Advice-Ages-ReneeByrne/dp/1847090206/.
THE STEPS OF COSTAL BREATHING
Turning to costal breathing itself, controlling stuttering through costal
breathing has several steps.

These, broadly in the order of what you

should aim to do, are as follows:

1. Resist time pressure;
2. Expel all the air from your lungs;
3. Establish eye-contact;
4. Take a costal breath;
5. Speak immediately at the top of the breath;
6. Speak slowly.
7. Speaking with a strong, deep tone; and
8. Limit yourself to three to four words per breath.
Step 1 Resist time pressure
You should only speak when youre ready to speak. The rationale behind
this step is that people who stutter commonly just rush into many
speaking situations through a desire to portray themselves as fluent and
able to speak on demand. Given however that this is not the case we
are people who stutter and not fluent speakers - it is worth taking a little

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time before speaking to consider how one is going to speak and what, if
anything, might be done to improve fluency.
Pausing and taking a brief period of time to calm yourself should also help
reduce the sense of panic that many stutterers feel in some speaking
situations. You are as able to control the pace of a conversation as the
person youre talking with!
During this pause try to decide what you are going to say and articulate
this silently to yourself. This will allow you to focus subsequently on how
you are going to say it i.e. with a strong costal breath.
Step 2 Expel all the air from your lungs
Expelling all of the air from your longs will allow you to take a subsequent
costal breath that is both deep and fast. Your body will automatically help
you take that breath because your bodys natural tendency when your
lungs are completely empty is to fill them with air. Emptying your lungs
sets your diaphragm in its default position.

Having your lungs totally

empty of air will let you take the full breath that is key to this technique.
Expelling all of the air in your lungs before you take a costal breath is also
useful in that it will slow down your rate of speaking. This will only ever
have positive impacts on your fluency.
Step 3 Establish eye-contact
Establishing eye-contact is important because its part of normal speaking
engagement.

Many people who stutter lose eye contact when they

anticipate a stutter or when they start to block. This, in my experience, is

an acquired habit ancillary to stuttering and not physical manifestation of
the stuttering itself. Whatever the reason behind it, its obviously not part
of normal face-to-face interaction.

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While some people say that a lack of eye-contact is often perceived as

being due evasiveness or illustrative of negative personality traits, at least
in how the listener perceives it, I dont believe this is true its often
apparent to the person were taking to that its simply due to stuttering
and our embarrassment over it. Nonetheless, even if people dont read
anything negative into it, its something that should be avoided. It can
also have the effect of throwing your concentration off.
Step 4 Take a costal breath
Although a costal breath sounds like something quite complicated its
actually very simple. Essentially its a deep, but quick breath. You might
not necessarily need to fill your lungs totally since this might take too
long but instead aim for a sharp intake of breath. Both the depth of the
breath and its speed are crucial. If you dont take a deep enough breath
what may happen is that you will find yourself taking subsequent top-up
breaths. This will ruin the technique what youre aiming for is a smooth,
full and fast breath.
I cannot stress enough that the depth of the breath and its speed are
crucial. Although shallower breaths may work for you in many situations,
they will not work for you all of the time. Only the deepest and sharpest
breath will allow you to speak successfully most of the time even in those
especially testing and trying of speaking situations.
While you may be able to slightly modify the characteristics of the breath
when youre more familiar with the technique, its likely that youll always
need to fall back on a deep breath sometimes. The speed of the breath
must always be applied youll never be able to use this technique if you
take a slow breath. Thats one thing that you cant modify.

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Initially this breath might be noisy and quite noticeable to others, but with
practice and familiarity this should diminish. You might also find that your
shoulders rise up when you take a breath this is a common occurrence
when first practising costal breathing and you should try not to let yourself
do this. Even you feel that you are doing this unconsciously try to remain
aware of it - by doing so you should find that this occurrence stops as you
become more comfortable with the technique.
Step 5 Speak immediately at the top of the breath
Taking a costal breath tends to for whatever reason overcome the
physical blocks that we experience, but you need to take advantage of this
by speaking as soon as you have taken the breath. If you pause, even for
a second, youll lose the effect and the stutter will creep back into your
speech.
If you feel like you are going to encounter a speech block and wont able
to speak immediately then you should try speaking with an assertive first
sound i.e. a forcefully produced sound.

If you have, however, taken a

successful costal breath then you should be able to speak without blocking
or, at the very least, be able to make a start on speaking without blocking.
At this stage dont forget that there are subsequent steps to the technique
which need to be applied read those and then come back to this step if
youre still having trouble speaking.
While taking a costal breath helps to overcome physical blocks you
yourself will need to overcome any psychological block to speaking. This
is not always easy, but practice in a safe environment with family or
friends can help.
Step 6 Speak slowly

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Most people who stutter speak too quickly.

Slowing down is not only

easier on those people you are speaking to, but it is easier for you too. It
will give you more control of what you are trying to say and how you say
it. Slowing down should help you even if you dont decide to give costal
breathing a go.
Step 7 Speak with a strong, deep tone.
When speaking you should aim to speak from your chest with a deep,
breathy tone.

This, along with a loud, projected voice, will help you

overcome your tendency to block. For example, if you have taken a costal
breath and tried speaking at the top of that breath without success, try
deepening your tone and imagining that you are speaking to someone
across a noisy room.
This is an important part of the technique, but a part which can easily be
overlooked. If you find yourself blocking, especially when you are trying to
speak immediately after taking your costal breath, its likely that focusing
on this step will help you.
Step 8 - Limit yourself to three to four words per breath.
You should aim to limit yourself to three to four words per costal breath
initially.

You will probably be able to increase the number of words per

breath as you become more comfortable with the technique, but when
youre first trying to apply the technique, dont put too much pressure on
yourself.
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